On Tour with The Soul Keepers by Devon Taylor, Meet the Author​ and Giveaway.

What an unusual adventure! Not my style, at all, but wow, it promises so much fun!

The book is The Soul Keepers by Devon Taylor will be out tomorrow in the Fantasy, Young Adult genre.

Synopsis:

“A fantastic high-stakes adventure on a ghost ship sailing forever into eternity, where every soul is (literally) worth fighting for—what’s not to love? Devon Taylor weaves an endearing tale of friendship and loss with heart-stopping action and a whole lot of terrifying monsters. You’ll root for Rhett and his fellow reapers through every twist and turn!” —Rin Chupeco, author of The Bone Witch and The Girl from the Well

Full of danger, stormy otherworld seas, ghost ships, and terrifying monsters, this thrilling debut novel is perfect for fans of Taran Matharu and Neal Shusterman.

Death is just the beginning.

After dying in a terrible car accident, Rhett awakens in the afterlife and is recruited to join the crew of theHarbinger, a colossal seafaring vessel tasked with ferrying the souls of the dead. To where exactly, no one knows. But the crew must get the souls there, and along the way protect them from vicious soul-eating monsters that will stop at nothing to take the ship and all of its occupants.

Rhett and his new friends have a hard enough time fighting back the monsters that grow bolder and more ferocious every day. But then a new threat emerges, a demon who wants something that Rhett has. And if she gets it, it could mean the end of everything… for both the living and the dead.

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, The Soul Keepers is a pulse-pounding, cinematic adventure by debut author Devon Taylor.

I asked Devon, the Author, who he would cast if his story was made into a movie, and here’s what he told me.

I don’t think that any writer is immune to the fantasy of one day seeing their book turned into a movie. At least, I know I’m definitely not. I grew up watching any movies that I could get my hands on. Of course, I gravitate toward movies that have a more speculative, action-y bent to them (sci-fi, horror, adventure, etc…). In my opinion, Twister is basically a perfect movie. But I’ll watch anything that captures my attention and holds it. And as a writer of fiction, I’ve discovered a very cinematic approach to my style that I didn’t fully realize was there until people started pointing it out to me. The simple science of it is that I see the story as a movie in my head, so that’s how I translate it to paper. As a result, it becomes very difficult not to start dream-casting the movie version of the story in my head. Today, Vivian MacKade is giving me the chance to share some of those casting ideas with you! Below, you’ll find a list of the main characters from The Soul Keepers, along with the actor who I think would best fit that character’s role in a TSK movie (or even a TV show). Enjoy! And thanks for reading!

Rhett Snyder– Rhett is the main character, so of course his casting must be PERFECT. Rhett is a mostly introverted, sometimes angsty and seething seventeen-year-old. The actor who portrays him has to be compassionate and fierce and humorous and (often) conflicted. I think the perfect actor for this role is Ansel Elgort. Aside from his spectacular performance in The Fault in Our Stars, the movie that really solidified this dream-cast for me was Baby Driver (another perfect movie, if you ask me—minus Kevin Spacey).

Basil Winthrop– I’ve talked about my dream TSK cast before on my publisher’s blog, way back when The Soul Keepers was first announced. Since then, my wife and I have had extensive conversations about this particular subject, which has resulted in some last-minute casting changes. I think the perfect Basil—snarky, sarcastic, hilarious, a bit of a romantic at heart—would have to be played by Harry Styles. He has this kind of timeless vibe about him that would fit Basil’s character so, so well.

Mak– This casting choice hasn’t changed, and I don’t think it will ever change for me. Mak is fearless, strong-willed, scarred, and totally loyal. The best person I can think of to play her in a movie is Marie Avgeropoulos, who plays Octavia on The 100. Octavia’s story arc on that show gets so dark and gritty, and yet it begins with a character who is a straight-up rebellious teenager. Avgeropoulos plays all of it so well that I’d be thrilled to see what she could do with Mak.

Theodore “Theo” Sampson Tinderbuff III– Theo is the kind of character that I think would be super fun to play. He’s a little bit gentle giant, a little bit comic relief, and all muscle. He also happens to be a gangster from the 1940s. I’ve had a couple different actors in mind for Theo, but the one who would fit the best has to be Keegan Allen, who played Toby on Pretty Little Liars. He doesn’t immediately seem like the first choice but based on his costumes and performances in some of that show’s retro-themed episodes, I could see him pulling Theo’s character off in a TSK movie.

Treeny Underman– I think I would be most excited to see Treeny brought to life in a movie or on TV. She’s quiet, withdrawn, super smart, and fierce in a way that’s totally different from the other characters in The Soul Keepers. I’d be totally excited to see Sophia Lillis playing Treeny on any screen. She starred as young Beverly Marsh in the new version of It, and she was phenomenal.

Captain Trier– The captain of the Harbinger is exactly what you’d expect him to be—leader, fighter, father figure, mentor. His is another casting fantasy that I’ve never wavered on. The only person that I could see playing Captain Trier is Idris Elba. He simply has all the chops to pull it off, and it really is a dream cast if he’s part of it.

Urcena– She’s the big bad of the world of The Soul Keepers. She’s unflinching, utterly terrifying, unafraid to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Her character would have to be played by someone who has starred in roles with a lot of those same traits. I think Rooney Mara would be amazing for this part. Her work in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was just too badass for her not to be perfect as Urcena.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading! And big thanks to anyone who picks up a copy of The Soul Keepers to see these characters in action on paper!

Devon Taylor was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters. His day job consists of sneaking around the house with ninja-like stealth to avoid waking up his kids. When not writing, reading, or tediously typing out text messages with all the correct spelling and punctuation, he spends his time with his family. THE SOUL KEEPERS is his debut novel.